Page 9 of Miss Fortune

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long six weeks.”

“Why did you agree to do this assignment? Because of the woman who knew your grandmother?”

“Yeah. I owe her a lot. She was the one who showed me LA and convinced me I should take a chance and move here.”

Although my parents hadn’t understood it, I’d needed a change. A journey to figure out what I was meant to do with my life and where I was meant to be, and I couldn’t stop searching until I found the answer. My plan was to choose a new city every two years and figure out if I could call it home. I had a restlessness inside which was hard to explain to anyone who didn’t understand what I’d been through. I wanted to experience life instead of waiting around for something to happen to me.

“It’s nice of you to fill in for her. Oh, you never said. How were your last two dates? Give me some hope about getting back out there into the dating world.”

“I shut down my dating profile. I’m done with trying to meet men online.”

“That bad?”

“Yup. I realize I’m not a skinny woman, but it’s not like I hid that fact on my profile or in my pictures.” With all I’d been through, I loved my body for its endurance and strength. I didn’t care about my size, but the men in LA seemed to expect something different.

“Someone commented on your weight? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“Wish I was. He’s a personal trainer on the side, so he was all about offering me advice on how to hit the gym and slim down. He was a catch compared to the guy who thought blowing him in his car in the parking lot was a good way to cap off a first date. Chivalry seems to be dead these days.”

She sighed. “Well, that’s depressing.”

I hadn’t intended to make it sound hopeless, especially since she was newly single. “Perhaps it’s the online dating pool. I prefer to meet people organically anyhow.”

“Me too. I don’t think I could handle the anxiety of meeting someone online. In any case, I’m waiting one year before dipping a toe into the dating world again.”

She’d shared this before. Her therapist had suggested she use the twelve months to focus on herself. I couldn’t have agreed more. Given how toxic her ex-fiancé had been, she needed time to rebuild her confidence before getting back out there.

“I might be done with online dating, but I haven’t given up hope on the male species.” I wanted love, marriage, and kids in my future, but I wouldn’t sacrifice my standards to hurry it along. “I believe when it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Look at Tory and your brother.” When I first moved here, I’d met Tory as a neighbor in my apartment building, and we’d hit it off right away. She’d then gone to work for Chance, Kelsey’s older brother. Although it had started out rocky, they were more than happy together now.

“What does your uptight boss look like?”

My cheeks heated. Despite my adamance we couldn’t be more opposite, I was in fact attracted to him. “He’s not unattractive.”

She grinned. “Oh, yeah?”

My eyes rolled. “Get the idea out of your head. Just because he’s great eye candy doesn’t mean there’s anything more to it. He has the personality of a parsnip.”

We both chuckled at my description. Then she raised her glass. “You know what they say about bland foods. Just add butter.”

Chapter Six

Daisy

To be successful in any office job, it was important to find the rhythm in which it operated. Although I’d worked in a couple temporary office jobs when I’d first relocated, back when I’d needed the money for rent, this was my first law firm.

As a temp, it was always difficult to get into the routine. But Doris’s presence during my second day made it a lot easier to get a sense of the office vibe and my new boss’s schedule.

“What types of cases does Caleb work on?” I knew he was a family law attorney, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it entailed.

Doris sighed. “Divorces make up ninety percent of his case load. Occasionally, he does some adoptions. Those are such a happy thing to see. He has some trust and estate planning jobs, but he mostly delegates those tasks to the associates and supervises. Word of warning. When couples come in for negotiations, it can get quite heated on occasion. I’m always careful to ensure there are no sharp objects in the conference rooms.”

She had to be exaggerating, but there was no mirth to her words. “Sounds stressful.”

She nodded. “It can be, but Caleb handles it quite well. At least he tries to keep things from escalating. Anyhow, let’s move on to the document management system. Each document is saved with a number….”

By the end of my second day, I was confident I could do the job for the next six weeks without pulling too much hair out. Although I was accustomed to the stress in a corporate environment, I’d left it behind for a reason. Still, this was a favor for Doris, who needed a meniscus tendon repaired in her left knee and a recovery free of worry.

“Are you nervous about your surgery tomorrow?” I absolutely loathed the hospital. As I’d spent so much time in them over the years, both before my surgery and during recovery, I now did everything I could to avoid them.